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Brisbane: Top 10 Things to Do in Brisbane. Visit Southbank Southbank Parklands is a family-friendly parklands and provides the perfect setting for a great day out. With riverside cycling and walking paths, lush gardens, a beautiful inner city beach, a great range of dining options and vibrant shopping, there is something for everyone to enjoy! River Cruises View the sights of Brisbane from the river aboard one of the many river cruises including the Mirimar, River City Cruises or the Kookaburra River Queens... Australian Wildlife Have a photo taken with a koala, feed the kangaroos, and see and learn about Australia's wildlife at Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary - the world's first and largest koala sanctuary.

Brisbane Lookout See amazing panoramic views of Brisbane City as far as Moreton Bay at the Mt Coot-tha lookout. Adventure For a more active and fun adventure head down to Riverlife Adventure Centre. Shopping Fix Brisbane offers a variety of shopping arcades, malls, local boutiques and luxury high-end fashion options. Adventure Climb. Map of Australia - Australia Map, Geography of Australia Map Information. Australia whose name comes from the Latin word australis, meaning "southern", has a population of 23,480,939 and gained its independence in 1918. The initial inhabitants of Australia traveled here from far-southeast Asia, and from the Torres Strait islands. From their initial settlements in the north some 70,000 years ago, their individual lifestyles and cultural traditions eventually spread across this vast uncharted land.

The first European exposure to Australia occurred in 1606, when the Dutch explorer, Willem Janszoon, sighted, then landed on the Cape York Peninsula. He found the area inhospitable and moved on. Regardless, adventurers and traders, aggressively searching for riches in the southern hemisphere, continued to sail through the northern coastal areas bordering a land the Dutch named New Holland. In 1688, on one of his three circumnavigations of the globe, William Dampier became the first British explorer to set foot on Australian land, coming ashore in Shark Bay.

Australia: Maps, History, Geography, Government, Culture, Facts, Guide & Travel/Holidays/Cities. The continent of Australia, with the island state of Tasmania, is approximately equal in area to the United States (excluding Alaska and Hawaii). Mountain ranges run from north to south along the east coast, reaching their highest point in Mount Kosciusko (7,308 ft; 2,228 m). The western half of the continent is occupied by a desert plateau that rises into barren, rolling hills near the west coast. The Great Barrier Reef, extending about 1,245 mi (2,000 km), lies along the northeast coast. The island of Tasmania (26,178 sq mi; 67,800 sq km) is off the southeast coast. Democracy. Symbolic executive power is vested in the British monarch, who is represented throughout Australia by the governor-general. The first inhabitants of Australia were the Aborigines, who migrated there at least 40,000 years ago from Southeast Asia. Dutch, Portuguese, and Spanish ships sighted Australia in the 17th century; the Dutch landed at the Gulf of Carpentaria in 1606.

Changes in Immigration Policy U.S. The World Factbook.